Introduction
Battlecry is Pathfinder 2e Remastered's war table book. It adds two classes, one ancestry, a stack of battlefield archetypes, followers, battle magic, siege rituals, siege gear, troops, garrisons, skirmish rules, and advice for campaigns where armies and objectives matter.
The important word is "war," not "bigger." Battlecry is not just a damage upgrade for normal encounters. It asks different questions: who gives orders, who protects the line, what the enemy is trying to seize, which allies can be saved, which wall falls first, and what the battle costs after initiative ends.
Use this hub with the main PF2e guide hub, classes, ancestry guides, archetypes, combat, equipment, GM resources, Monster Core, spell guides, and rules.
What Battlecry adds
| Area | What it adds | Site home |
|---|---|---|
| Classes | Commander and Guardian | Classes |
| Ancestry | Jotunborn, a giant-linked ancestry with strong table-presence questions | Ancestry guides |
| Archetypes | Commander multiclass, Guardian multiclass, Captain, War Mage, Guerrilla, Field Propagandist, Aldori Duelist, Crossbow Infiltrator, Iridian Choirmaster, Munitions Master, and Necrologist | Battlecry archetypes |
| Combat systems | Skirmish warfare, battlefield objectives, troop-facing play, and larger-scale tactical encounters | Combat |
| GM tools | War campaigns, garrisons, military pressure, and campaign structure for armed conflict | GM guide |
| Monsters | Troops, garrison play, and group enemies that let armies appear without running fifty separate stat blocks | Monsters |
| Equipment | Siege weapons, battle vehicles, banners, whetstones, and war-facing gear | Equipment |
| Magic | Battle magic and siege rituals for formation, fortification, morale, and battlefield-scale problems | Spell guides |
Who should use Battlecry
| Table type | Recommendation | Why |
|---|---|---|
| New PF2e table | Use lightly | Add Commander or Guardian only after the table understands the three-action economy, reactions, conditions, and shields |
| Tactical veterans | Strong add | The book rewards players who already care about positioning, timing, Aid, movement, terrain, and target priority |
| War campaign GMs | Core add | Skirmishes, garrisons, troops, siege scenes, and war campaign advice give you procedures instead of vibes |
| Dungeon crawl only | Selective add | Commander, Guardian, Jotunborn, and some archetypes still work, but siege and war tools may sit in the bag looking heroic and unemployed |
| Political or faction campaign | Strong add | Field Propagandist, Captain, war councils, garrisons, morale, and occupation play all want social consequences |
If the campaign never asks "what is the army doing?" you can still use the classes. If the campaign often asks "what happens to the army if the PCs fail?" Battlecry becomes much more valuable.
Adoption models
You do not need to open the entire book at once.
| Adoption model | What you allow | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Character options only | Commander, Guardian, Jotunborn, and selected archetypes | Normal adventure paths or home campaigns that want new PC builds |
| Tactical party layer | Commander, Guardian, battle archetypes, banners, whetstones, and battle magic | Groups that enjoy formation play and teamwork |
| War set pieces | Skirmish warfare, troops, siege weapons, battle vehicles, and siege rituals for specific chapters | Campaigns with occasional battles, fort assaults, or defense missions |
| Full war campaign | War campaigns, garrisons, factions, supply, followers, skirmishes, sieges, and military politics | Stories about rebellion, invasion, occupation, crusade, or state-level conflict |
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Guide index
| Guide | Use it for |
|---|---|
| Commander Class Guide | Intelligence-based battlefield leadership, tactics, signals, banners, and party coordination |
| Guardian Class Guide | Strength-based armor play, Taunt, Shield Block, Intercept Attack, and ally protection |
| Jotunborn Ancestry Guide | Giant-linked ancestry hooks, big-body fantasy, heritage picks, and session-zero expectations |
| Battlecry Archetypes | Commander multiclass, Guardian multiclass, Captain, War Mage, Guerrilla, Field Propagandist, Munitions Master, and more |
| Skirmish Warfare | PC-led battlefield scenes, objectives, squads, formations, terrain, and troop pressure |
| War Campaigns | Campaigns where armies, fronts, morale, supply, occupation, and strategic consequences matter |
| Troops and Garrisons | Troop creatures, garrison use, group enemies, and battlefield opposition |
| Siege Weapons and Battle Vehicles | Crewed gear, fortification attacks, vehicle scenes, battlefield movement, and objectives |
| Banners and Whetstones | Martial support treasure, battlefield identity items, and consumable war upgrades |
| Battle Magic | Formation support, terrain control, morale pressure, and encounter-scale magic |
| Siege Rituals | Long-form magic for walls, wards, armies, fortresses, and strategic consequences |
Player options review
Commander
Commander is the book's cleanest expression of battlefield play. It uses Intelligence, Society, Warfare Lore, prepared tactics, a customized banner, drilled reactions, and command-driven action economy to make the party fight like a unit.
The class is strongest when the party listens. That sounds obvious, but it is the whole class. A Commander in a coordinated group feels like a tactical engine. A Commander in a party where everyone wanders off to duel their favorite enemy becomes a very tired person holding a flag.
Best fits:
| Party need | Why Commander helps |
|---|---|
| Better positioning | Tactics can help allies move, prepare, or exploit openings |
| More teamwork | The class rewards the group for planning turns together |
| Battlefield knowledge | Intelligence, Society, and Warfare Lore make command scenes more than charisma yelling |
| Skirmish leadership | Battlecry's troop and skirmish systems give Commander a natural spotlight |
Use Commander with reactions, action compression, flanking and positioning, Society, and Lore.
Guardian
Guardian is the other headline class, and it is much easier to use in ordinary adventuring. It is a Strength-based defensive class built around armor, Shield Block, Taunt, guardian techniques, and Intercept Attack.
Guardian changes enemy incentives. Taunt and protection tools ask enemies to choose between attacking the armored problem and accepting consequences for targeting someone else.
Best fits:
| Party need | Why Guardian helps |
|---|---|
| Backline protection | Guardian can make attacks against casters and healers less attractive |
| Shield-heavy front line | Shield Block and armor support the bodyguard plan |
| Enemy control without spell slots | Taunt and positioning create pressure without needing a control spell |
| Objective defense | The class is excellent when someone or something must survive |
Use Guardian with shields and Shield Block, armor, movement actions, conditions, and encounter building.
Jotunborn
Jotunborn are giant-linked humanoids with a big narrative footprint. Battlecry ties them to titan blood, the Fray, iivlar silk, clan duty, and post-Godsrain displacement. Their heritages push different angles: keeper, plane-hopper, sage, warrior, and weaver.
Confirm that the campaign has room for an ancestry whose body, history, and giant-adjacent identity are visible.
Best fits:
| Character plan | Why Jotunborn fits |
|---|---|
| Guardian, Fighter, Barbarian, Champion | Big defensive or martial presence plays naturally |
| Commander or face builds | Clan duty and visible heritage can anchor leadership scenes |
| War campaigns | Displacement, service, family, and military pressure give the GM hooks |
| Mythic or divine fallout stories | Their post-Godsrain context connects well to larger Remaster-era events |
Use Jotunborn with the ancestry hub, heritage guide, war campaigns, and session zero.
Battlecry Archetypes
The Battlecry archetypes guide is where the book gets broad. Commander and Guardian multiclass options are the easiest to recommend. Captain, Guerrilla, Field Propagandist, War Mage, Munitions Master, Necrologist, Aldori Duelist, Crossbow Infiltrator, and Iridian Choirmaster are more campaign-sensitive.
Quick read:
| Archetype lane | Best when |
|---|---|
| Commander multiclass | A non-Commander wants tactics, banner support, and battlefield leadership |
| Guardian multiclass | A non-Guardian wants armor, Taunt, and bodyguard tools |
| Captain | Followers, command structure, downtime, and military authority matter |
| Guerrilla | The campaign has ambushes, terrain, sabotage, scouts, and occupation pressure |
| Field Propagandist | Factions, morale, public opinion, and reputation matter |
| War Mage | A Wizard wants battlefield armor, war magic, and formation play from level 1 |
| Munitions Master | An Inventor wants a siege-flavored build with real setup costs |
| Necrologist | The table wants rare, undead-facing battlefield magic and has GM approval |
GM options review
Skirmish Warfare
Skirmish warfare is Battlecry's answer to "how do PCs matter in a larger battle without making everyone play a separate wargame?" It lets PCs lead troop creatures, form bonds with units, pursue objectives, and fight battles where the army exists at table scale.
Use it when the battlefield has:
| Element | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Objectives | Capture the bridge, hold the gate, rescue the signal crew, break the ritual, or escort the siege engine |
| Terrain | Trenches, walls, smoke, rubble, fires, difficult ground, elevation, and choke points |
| Troops | The army is present without tracking dozens of individual creatures |
| Clocks | Reinforcements, collapsing defenses, ammunition limits, morale breaks, or ritual timers |
| Consequences | Victory should change the map, faction position, treasure access, or campaign pressure |
Skirmish warfare is excellent in small doses. Run it every session and it can become homework with initiative. Use it when the battle deserves the camera.
Troops And Garrisons
Troops and garrisons connect Battlecry to Monster Core. Troops represent groups as a single creature with multiple battlefield spaces, HP thresholds, area-effect vulnerability, and different movement assumptions. Garrisons give GMs ways to make defended places feel staffed and dangerous.
Core advice:
| GM task | Best practice |
|---|---|
| Use troops as set pieces | A troop should change positioning, not just occupy more squares |
| Reward area effects | Troops are one of the places where blasts, bursts, lines, and multi-target pressure feel excellent |
| Still use level math | Do not ignore encounter budgets because the enemy is "just soldiers" |
| Give troops behavior | Morale, orders, formations, retreat, reinforcements, and terrain should matter |
| Avoid clutter | One troop plus officers is usually cleaner than many small creatures plus a troop plus hazards plus a siege engine plus a partridge in a paperwork tree |
Use troops with creature traits, stat blocks, encounter use, and battle magic.
Siege Weapons And Battle Vehicles
Siege weapons and battle vehicles are scene objects. Treating them as ordinary weapons undersells them and slows the game. Their best use is as an objective, hazard, timer, or terrain feature.
Good siege scenes ask:
| Question | Example |
|---|---|
| Who crews it? | PCs, allied troops, enemy engineers, charmed workers, desperate civilians |
| What stops it? | Sabotage, battlefield control, killing the crew, destroying ammunition, magic wards |
| What does it threaten? | Gate, bridge, wall, ritual site, evacuation path, supply wagon |
| What happens if it fires? | Not just damage: panic, breach, separated party, lost position, new map |
| How do PCs interact? | Load, aim, launch, defend, repair, sabotage, redirect, board, or escape |
Pair these with GM hazards, GM subsystems, movement actions, and treasure by level.
War Campaigns
War campaigns are where Battlecry either shines or becomes too much. The campaign needs fronts, commanders, political pressure, logistics, allies, enemy doctrine, meaningful losses, and enough downtime for victories to echo.
Use GM Core procedures as the backbone: session zero, subsystems, social encounters, skill DCs, treasure by level, and encounter building. Battlecry supplies the war lens; GM Core keeps the table from drifting into "and then the GM narrates six armies for forty minutes."
Magic and equipment
Battlecry's magic and gear are best when they solve battlefield problems, not when they imitate normal adventuring gear.
| Option | Best use | Related guide |
|---|---|---|
| Battle magic | Support formations, change terrain, influence troop fights, pressure morale, and protect allies | Battle magic |
| Siege rituals | Long-form magic for walls, fortifications, mass defense, and strategic scenes | Siege rituals |
| Banners | Party identity, aura-style support, command visuals, and martial treasure | Banners and whetstones |
| Whetstones | Consumable martial support when weapon users need a temporary edge | Consumables |
| Siege gear | Fortification attacks, defensive batteries, mobile objectives, and crew scenes | Siege weapons and battle vehicles |
| Shields and armor | Guardian, Commander, War Mage, and defensive battlefield roles | Shields, Armor |
For casters, do not forget normal staves and wands, arcane spells, divine spells, occult spells, and primal spells. Battlecry adds war tools, but a wall of soldiers still respects a well-placed control spell.
How it fits with the core books
Battlecry works because the Remaster core already handles the fundamentals.
| Source | What it contributes to Battlecry play |
|---|---|
| Player Core | Three actions, reactions, Shield Block, Aid, Take Cover, conditions, dying, Treat Wounds, Recall Knowledge, rituals, spell traditions, and equipment basics |
| Player Core 2 | More party shapes: Alchemist supplies, Barbarian pressure, Champion defense, Investigator scouting, Monk mobility, Oracle divine risk, Sorcerer spell coverage, and Swashbuckler movement |
| GM Core | Encounter budgets, DCs, treasure, hazards, Hero Points, subsystems, influence, research, chases, infiltration, reputation, leadership, hexploration, and vehicles |
| Monster Core | Creature traits, monster roles, elite and weak adjustments, monster families, stat-block reading, and behavior that makes battlefields feel alive |
| Battlecry | Commander, Guardian, Jotunborn, war archetypes, followers, battle magic, siege rituals, siege weapons, battle vehicles, armory options, skirmish warfare, garrisons, and war campaign framing |
The safest operating rule: let GM Core decide the procedure, Monster Core decide the enemy behavior, Player Core decide the action rules, and Battlecry decide the battlefield wrapper.
What to skip or delay
| Option | Delay if |
|---|---|
| Full skirmish warfare | The group is still learning normal combat or does not like managing objectives |
| Troop-heavy sessions | The party lacks area effects, battlefield movement, or patience for unusual creature footprints |
| Siege rituals | The campaign has no downtime, fortifications, armies, or strategic magic consequences |
| Captain followers | The table dislikes NPC sidekicks or already has too many companions, summons, and pets |
| Field Propagandist | The campaign has no public opinion, faction reputation, or morale pressure |
| Munitions Master | The player expects a normal Inventor with a free mortar rather than a build-defining class archetype |
Hot Take
Battlecry pays off when the table treats it as a campaign dial. Commander rewards a group that coordinates, while Guardian drops cleanly into ordinary adventure play. Start with one class, a meaningful battlefield objective, or an occasional troop scene; let troops reward area control and let a siege engine become a problem to stop rather than another Strike. Add faction, follower, guerrilla, propaganda, and siege-focused archetypes only when the campaign offers missions where they matter. A war story also needs aftermath - morale, prisoners, damaged defenses, lost allies, and political consequences - so leaving out systems that do not serve the campaign is good curation.
Best starting paths
| Goal | Start here |
|---|---|
| "I want to lead the party" | Commander, Commander feat guide, battlecry archetypes |
| "I want to protect allies" | Guardian, Guardian feat guide, shields |
| "I want giant-blooded ancestry play" | Jotunborn, ancestry guides, heritage guide |
| "I want a war campaign" | War campaigns, skirmish warfare, troops and garrisons |
| "I want siege scenes" | Siege weapons and battle vehicles, siege rituals, hazards |
| "I want battlefield magic" | Battle magic, combat spells, rituals |
GM advice
Battlecry asks for clearer encounter goals than normal monster fights. Before running a Battlecry-heavy scene, write one sentence for each of these:
| Prep question | Good answer |
|---|---|
| What is the objective? | Hold the gate for four rounds while civilians evacuate |
| What is the enemy plan? | The troop pins defenders while saboteurs open the west tower |
| What makes the terrain matter? | Smoke blocks long sight lines and rubble splits the battlefield |
| What changes on round 3? | Enemy reinforcements arrive unless the signal drum is destroyed |
| What happens if the PCs win? | The city keeps its outer wall and gains morale |
| What happens if they lose? | The army breaches the district and the next session starts in retreat |
That is enough. You do not need a dissertation on grain shipments unless the campaign is explicitly about grain shipments, in which case, congratulations, your villain is logistics.
Final notes
Use Battlecry when the campaign wants coordination, pressure, and consequences. Use Commander and Guardian freely if the player wants those roles. Use the bigger systems when the story earns them.
Return to the PF2e guide hub, PF2e classes, PF2e archetypes, or PF2e GM guide.
